Inspiring stories about parenting, its challenges, and how people are able to deal with it are all over but there is one particular story that has become my favorite.
There once lived a couple who never had a child. They were already old and the idea of having one seems more impossible as years go by. The day, however, came when someone paid a visit and who then told the husband that they will soon have a son.
His wife who overheard the conversation couldn’t believe her ears. The news to her was unreal. She believed that she cannot bear a child anymore but her husband who is a man of big faith knew otherwise.
And a miracle did happen. The once childless couple soon became a parent of a son. He was a gift and they love him so much.
Years passed and something would put them to the test. The man was told that their most cherished son needs to be offered and he received instructions how it would be done.
The fateful day arrived. Overcoming sadness as well as reluctance the man proceeded as planned. Taking his son with him he climbed the mountain where everything would take place. All set, the altar ready and his son tied up, the man raised his knife to execute the ultimate sacrifice.
Just as he was about to take his own son’s life, a voice from heaven soon thundered as an Angel ordered, “You have proven yourself. Let go of your son and from the bushes you will find a lamb. Use it instead as your offering to God.” This is the story of the couple Abraham and Sarah and their son, their only son, Isaac.
I never knew that a story from the biblical period, one that I have read to our son several times before, will soon be the same as our condition sans the altar and the need to slay a son–even a poor lamb. The similarity is in how an unexpected situation would test our faith.
It was how it felt like when my wife and I first learned about Marcus having a progressive crippling condition. We questioned God, we asked so many questions. We asked why us. We asked why of all children, why Marcus. We hoped that we would soon find the answers.
For now we cannot do anything but accept the fact that this predicament we are in is a test–a rather difficult one–that we need to pass. It is our own cross that we need to carry and a monster that we should face boldly. We must remain steadfast with the heartbreaking fact that we will eventually lose our only son because of Duchenne Muscle Dystrophy. I know that this is also the same feeling that others have whose lives of their loved ones are threatened by conditions like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Such unfortunate circumstance made the recently concluded Father’s Day more meaningful to me. While until now I continue to strive to be that ideal father, I know that I have found my purpose in life: to be a good father that Marcus needs to have whether or not that angel from heaven comes down and tells us, “You’ve passed, you will have your beloved son back.”
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Mood: 6/10 Honks! (He told his mother that he finds it hard to wake up from bed.)
Marcus Can Blog 